Flexi Flying

The Formula 1 debate over flexi-wings has intensified this season, with Ferrari and Red Bull demanding clarity from the FIA regarding the rules around them.

Teams have sought to optimise their cars’ performance amid the challenges posed by the new ground-effect regulations.

Flexi wings, capable of bending and twisting under aerodynamic load, can offer significant advantages in terms of balance and downforce.

The FIA has been closely monitoring the situation, conducting video checks to better understand the various designs being employed.

While the governing body insists that its focus is on gathering information rather than identifying rule-breakers, the growing competitive advantage enjoyed by teams like McLaren and Mercedes has raised concerns.

“The front wing of McLaren and Mercedes must be analysed,” Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko told reporters after qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner explained at the Italian Grand Prix that he had to trust the FIA in the matter.

“I think the regulations are very clear and that’s an FIA issue,” he said. “Obviously they are tested and they pass, but then you have to look at the wording of the regulations.”

Asked if further clarity from the FIA that rival designs were all good meant that Red Bull would have to pursue such ideas itself, Horner said: “Well, if it’s acceptable then you have to join in.”

The FIA has long tried to keep control of teams exploiting aerodynamic elasticity, with the technical regulations making clear how static loads will be applied to wings to ensure they comply with the regulations.

Teams, however, know that as long as their wings pass these tests in the garage, then extra flexibility on track can be exploited.

Speaking earlier this year about the new Mercedes front wing that featured more flexible elements, technical director James Allison explained that all teams knew where the boundaries were.

“I think that all of us are trying to ensure that we pass the FIA’s flexibility test,” he said. “They put loads on and you’ve got to not move by more than an amount.”

In a technical directive (TD34) from the FIA, it has emphasised that there are certain behaviours that will not be tolerated even if wings are passed as legal in the pits

In the note, the FIA says that it does not consider legal ‘designs whose structural characteristics are altered by secondary parameters, so as to produce (whilst running at the track) a different deflection characteristic than when stationary during the FIA checks. Examples of secondary parameters could be temperature, aerodynamic load etc.’